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No Formal Practice - 8 to 10 x 500m in 5k Pace, 300m jog

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow is one of those days we wait for – a crisp Fall day between the Mid-40s and upper 60s, with little wind and more humidity than yesterday or today, but by mid-day that too will dissipate. Enjoy this while we can!

A few of us will be at Yorktown tomorrow morning at 7 AM, but others might want to plan to be there either before or after – or at W&L or Falls Church HS - for now, let's keep the groups small, familiar, staggered in start times, and disorganized! ;-) The workout is as follows:

November 5, 2020 - 6 to 8 x 500m in 5k pace - with 300m jog recovery in between

• Stallions: 5:45 to 6:15 Pace, 10 Intervals
• Wolf Pack: 6:15 to 6:45 Pace, 9 – 10 Intervals
• Gazelles: 6:45 to 7:30 Pace, 8 – 9 Intervals
• Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 10:00 Pace, 8 Intervals

This is another speed workout guaranteed to build both strength and stamina for your winter races – and let's hope we get some! These are tougher than they look, so try to finish strong - push that last 100, and make sure you focus on form so you run efficiently, effectively, and injury-free. I would ease into these by running the first couple in 8k or 10k pace, but also feel free to crush the last couple in 3k pace if you are still feeling frisky. If you are recovering (i.e., within 30 days) of a Virtual Marathon/20 Miler/Half Marathon, I want you to drop back to 10k Pace or slower, depending on where you are in recovery.

In club news from Coach Rich ...

Greetings fellow Thursday morning faithful. Still no results for the National Capital races. Several of us participated but I will put off reporting again till we have results. That said, a few really nice results to report.

Our Ironwoman Tatyana Steis finished a marathon in her 16th state, Ohio, on Sunday in the Northern Ohio Marathon somewhat east of Cleveland. With temps in the low 40s, rain and wind gusting to 45mph along Lake Erie, Tatyana ran a strong 3:17:41. She also reported pea-sized hail for several of the last 6M. She said it was her toughest marathon ever but of course we are not surprised that she was 1st OAF Master. Amazing Tatyana. Congrats again.

Let's also hear big congrats for Mikala Whitaker who ran the Virtual NYC Marathon in 4:17:05. She also ran in cold, wet and windy conditions here in DC. Mikala successfully raised money for Rising NY Road Runners. She reported lackluster training leading up to this but how tough is she going out in those conditions on Sunday and running a marathon. Way to go Mikala!

In the old man's division Paul Ryan ran a Virtual USATF Masters 5K this morning on the track at YHS. Still chasing his sub-22 time he asked for my pacing support and he nailed it with a solid 21:54. We ran pretty perfectly even 7-minute pace and a bit faster for those last 200. Pulling Paul along from the front I ran my fastest again since 2016 with a 21:49. Congrats again to Paul and hopefully he wins his division of the race. BTW, Paul turns 70 in December while I will turn 62 in March. Runners forever ...

Happy running

Coach Big Guy has will be at Yorktown in the Morning, but Coach Rich will be taking it easy after that SMOKIN 5k time he ran with the Admiral!

No TMBC - 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace + 2 x 400m in 5k

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow will be a wet one, with temps in the mid-50s to 60s – and just a couple of windows (8 – 9 AM and 12 – 2 PM) of no rain, so plan accordingly.  I was going to schedule 400s, but with the rain 1600s seemd more appropriate. Tracks are open, but it still seems that no "organized" activities may take place in Arlington. Some will be at Yorktown at 7 tomorrow, while others will head to W&L or even Falls Church for track work. The Big Guy is in ATX and will be running there.

October 29, 2020 – NO TMBC – BUT BACK ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace, with 400m jogs, followed by 2 x 400m in 5k Pace, with 200m jog in between

When your track intervals lengthen to a mile, it is sometimes difficult to remember that you really want to change your form, style, cadence, etc. from your standard runs, but you really should. It makes a big difference if you switch your form to speed work – focus on lifting your knees, getting up on your toes, and using your arms in sync to lift the opposite leg. Don't fall into the trap of lengthening your stride – cadence should increase measurably on the track as opposed to the road and trail. Keep your core still and relaxed, and do not cross your arms over your body mid-point – this will swing your core (thus not still) and throw your stride off. On these longer intervals, break them down – for example, on Lap 1 focus on form – am I up on my toes and lifting knees? Lap 2 – am I relaxed – am I pushing while not getting to tense? Lap 3 – how is my breathing – through my nose and mouth - deeply? Lap 4 – let's try to finish strong, accelerating slowly but purposely to pick it up.

And now the Coach Rich News!

Happy Halloween fellow Thursday Morning Faithful. Shoutout to Hai Nguyen this week for completing his Virtual MCM in a time of 3:50:26. This was done off a much less than usual marathon training buildup for Hai so is really impressive. Way to go Hai!

Several of us have completed one of the National Capital 20, HM, 10M and 5M races. Still time for you to register and complete one. The deadline is this Saturday the 31st. Here's the link: https://20miler.dcroadrunners.org/ . I will have a full report on the results next week.

Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy will be out doing the workout (or a variation) somewhere tomorrow, while Coach Rich did his today!